A Small Streamer’s Guide to Success (Part 3)

Written by Ben Vollmer

If you are interested in reading part one and two of this series, click here.

It’s cliche, but streaming is about the journey and not the destination. Even the luckiest won’t strike big until several years into casting, and those who do are few and far between. If you really want to do this, you’re going to have to enjoy it. The unfortunate truth is that even once you start monetizing things with the help of Twitch’s affiliate program or donations, it’s unlikely to cover the cost of gear and games that you’ll be playing.

Instead, treat it like a hobby. Because, at least for the beginning, that’s exactly what it’s going to be. Two years in, I look back at some of my first streams as a memory just like we remember a lot of the fonder moments in our lives. There’s a nostalgia to it, and when you do hit it big, you’ll have nights where you miss just a few of you hanging out and talking about the latest releases or gaming news.

Whether you do this for an hour a week or forty, Twitch is going to be a place where you develop something important. You’re choosing to spend your time doing this, so you may as well enjoy it.

Don’t Overdo It

Days off are okay and perfectly reasonable. If you don’t make a habit out of it, your community will more than stand behind you on it. Often times, in fact, they’ll need a day off too. Much like casting, being a part of chat and focusing on a game (especially story-based titles) can be really difficult to do for several days a week. Sometimes it’s a good idea to take a step back and refresh the batteries, especially because a stream where you don’t bring your best self is worse than no stream at all.

How you organize your schedule will be largely up to what you can do, but most successful casters (including myself) have a day or two off a week. Every month or two, it might be a good idea to have a little extended vacation. By the end of it, you’ll want to be right back in your casting chair and people will be excited for your return. There’s no harm in taking a step back, so don’t stress any missed time. Your community will survive.

Watch Your Mental Health

This one deserves a much longer post than it will get, but this will have to do. Have you ever noticed how many large, full-time casters have struggled with mental health? While they are lucky they tend to have communities and people that care for them and work as a support system, sitting behind a computer screen for several hours in a row without any real company is a dangerous proposition. As someone who has struggled with mental health problems in the midst of my streaming “career”, I’m aware of how important it is to take care of yourself. So how can you do that?

First and foremost, don’t let Twitch become the center-point of your life. Yes, it’s fun and exciting. It has the potential for monetary and communal support, perhaps even career growth. Unfortunately, unlike other jobs, you’re rarely interacting with other people outside of some text on the other side of the screen. Don’t be fooled, this is not the same as more typical human interaction. That’s not to say that you can’t form friendships or support through that way, it just means that it can’t be a substitute for friends and family in your everyday life.

It’s important to maintain those relationships outside of your Twitch channel and streaming. Have people around you who support your goals as a caster, the ones who will urge you forward and cheer on your progress. Don’t let those people go by the wayside because they aren’t a quantifiable addition to your viewer count or subscriber goal. Those people are every bit as important as the people in your streaming community, and are vital in retaining strong mental health when things aren’t going as well for you in your stream as you’d like.

Another important thing to consider in all of this is to take breaks during your stream. Never go more than a couple of hours (at most!) without getting up to stretch, grab a snack and look at something other than your monitor. Some successful streamers have even taken to exercising during breaks, like mobile-gaming streamer Phonecats. Feeling healthy and fresh is an imperative part of being a good caster.

Spend Your Money Wisely

A frustratingly difficult thing about modern-day streaming is that just about everyone has a professional-grade setup. It may not be perfect, but most casters are decked out with a green screen, pro-quality microphone and webcam, and a solid PC to stream off of. Let me tell you first hand: this is not essential for newcomers.

What’s much more important are the things we’ve already mentioned. If you can combine all of those things first, you’ll eventually be able to build up toward better gear and your community will be able to participate in the changes. Plus, there’s nothing worse than getting a few weeks in and figuring out that you don’t enjoy casting enough to warrant the use of all that sweet technology. Do yourself a favor: if you can enjoy streaming to an “empty” room those first few weeks, chances are you’ll enjoy an active chat a lot more. At that point, you’re good to spend some extra cash on anything that will make the experience easier and less frustrating.

Consider this, though: both the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One, as well as their successors in the Pro and X, have streaming capabilities. If you have either, give streaming a go from one of their platforms. Keep the chat box off of the side, and nobody will even know you’re streaming straight from the console. Some people prefer a lack of overlays and alerts, anyway. Not to mention, you’ll get a little extra viewer boost since both consoles promote streams coming directly from the console.

If you do have to prioritize your gear, I’d do it this way:

1. Mid-ranged PC that helps you get accustomed to PC building without high risk of losing out big money on a faulty part.
2. A headset like the Hyper Cloud X that’s both extremely comfortable and affordable. It comes with a solid microphone, so go with this before picking up a pro-quality microphone.
3. If you want to be a variety caster, start searching for affordable titles that you can line up to move from one thing to the next.
4. Anything that will help your stream experience feel more comfortable. A solid chair, like the Amazon Basic’s mid-tier brand, or something more expensive like the DX Racer, which is well worth the cost. It’s almost a cliched chair at this point, but they can last several years with no deterioration.
5. A capture card for any potential console use. My personal recommendation is the ElGato HD60 S, which can help you stream anything with an HDMI port at great quality. Also fantastic if you plan on doing any additional video content on the side. ElGato has various iterations, including some like the original HD that can stream older consoles as well.
6. A microphone. A well trained ear will notice the different, but for the most part, you’re going to be dealing with a community who will only pick up on things if you mention it. A pro-grade mic can help prevent audio issues that might cause a newcomer to leave earlier than they would have otherwise. Go with something like Audio-Technica for a little extra than the often-used Blue Yeti brand (also nice, just not as nice).
7. A nice webcam. These bad boys are so cheap that there’s no reason to skimp out on the cost. Go for a Logitech C920, which is the standard for most professional streamers. Don’t feel pressured to use a webcam, many successful casters don’t.

Build a Brand

This is the last, and potentially most important, thing you’ll do as a caster. The reason I say last is because you don’t want to have to do this over and over again. It’s a long, slow process that really never ends, and having to change things up too frequently will only serve to confuse your community.

So what does building a brand mean, exactly? No, you’re not trying to create the next Mickey Mouse or Mario. Instead, you need to build on who you are as a caster and find a way to market it. Take a few months (perhaps even longer) to develop an idea of who you are. Are you a variety caster or do you stream one game? Do you lean on the funny side or do you prefer to critique games a little more seriously? Are you a competitive streamer or a casual one? All of these things and more are important in developing a sense of identity. When potential viewers get an idea of who they want to watch, you want to make it abundantly clear for them that you’re the caster for them.

Everybody will go about branding differently, but the way I’ve always found the most success is by living by a simple motto: keep it clean, consistent and creative. The best thing you can do for yourself is develop a “style” that fits in with your brand. I consider myself a slightly-more-serious caster and someone who really digs deep into the technical and critical side of games. Here’s my homepage on Twitch, as a reference:

I’m far from a graphic designer so I use other resources to help me build my brand. In this case, I use AnneMunition’s, a professional designer and streamer, free overlays, while other times I’ll call on friends in my community for emotes and other designs like the gifted SinxRealize. Because I have a little more background in video editing, I made my own intro that comes at the beginning of every stream and video that I publish:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiN0qEXS0MA

This design is something that people associate with me as a caster. It took me over a year to figure out who I really was as a streamer and how I wanted to brand myself. I’m glad I waited and I’m also glad that I put in the time to do it right. Do yourself a favor: Think about the caster you are and the caster you want to become. Develop a brand that will help you get there.

Thank you everyone for reading. For those who don’t know, my goals as a Twitch caster deviate from the norm. I don’t want to do this as a job and I was initially resistant to monetize it at all. Instead, I love helping other casters reach their goals on Twitch as I’ve already reached many of mine. I know how much of a life-changing thing it can be, so I wanted to share my two+ years of experience with all of you. 

If you want to read the first or second parts to this series, click here for part one or here for part two. If you’d like to support Epilogue Gaming, which is something I hope to work into my career, then you can click here and help support the site on Patreon for as little as $1 a month.